Folk artist Diego Davidenko is gearing up to release his new, Kickstarter-funded record It Isn’t Home on August 28. To celebrate, Davidenko was nice enough to put together a mix tape for MAGNET, which you can check out below.
Kyle Adem “Paint”
This gentle and earnest song from Kyle Adem’s album The Living Room Takes brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it. This song feels to me like a hug when I’m sad, saying, “Yeah, you’re sad, but it’s OK.” Video
Lisa Germano “Bad Attitude”
I love Lisa’s voice, especially in this song, and the lyrics perfectly describe how I’ve felt many times in my life when the world is a big joke on me. Video
Embrace “Free Ride”
I first heard this song in the movie Permanent Midnight. It’s patient and fluid in a way that traps me in its mood. The lyrics describe a self-indulgence that’s somehow justified by the prettiness of the song. Video
Bright Eyes “A Song To Pass The Time”
Bright Eyes has been an enormous influence on me in many ways. There are too many songs of theirs that I love to choose a favorite. “A Song To Pass The Time” is the first song of theirs I ever heard, and it had an immediate impact on me personally and in my songwriting. Video
Arvo Pärt “Spiegel Im Spiegel”
This is a composition rather than a song, but I put it on here because I think it’s one of the most perfect musical expressions I’ve ever heard. It seems to solidify a particular feeling of calm longing into a soothing crystal. Video
Beck “Hollow Log”
This song was my introduction to Beck back in the mid-’90s, around when I first started writing songs. In the midst of a lot of what I was hearing back then, this track showed me how simple a song can be and still carry the full weight of expressing a experience in a meaningful way. Video
Blonde Redhead “For The Damaged”
This song reminds me of how fragile feelings or life can be. Kazu Makino’s voice rides the fine line between strong, expressive and delicate, conceding. Mixed so smoothly with the guitar and the piano, her singing lulls me into a calmness that the song respects until the end, leaving me sad but satisfied. Video
